Nickelodeon Animation Studio
February is traditionally known as ‘Sweeps Month’ in the TV industry, a time when networks focus on their best performing series and high profile specials in order to boost ratings to drive up advertising dollars. And that’s the reason very few new series premiere this month. No new series hit the airwaves in the first four decades on the list, and only one animated cable series made its debut in 1995. 2005 saw two more animated series come to cable, one traditional animation and the other stop-motion. 2015 saw the launch of five series, with two on the major networks — one scripted comedy and the other a hidden camera show. Cable TV gave us one reality series and a short-lived comedy, and streaming entered the landscape with a live-action children’s series based on a comic book series. Scroll down the list to see the shows that premiered this week and tell us if you remember any of these shows.
1955
- No new series premiered this week in 1955.
1965
- No new series premiered this week in 1965.
1975
- No new series premiered this week in 1975.
1985
- No new series premiered this week in 1985.
1995
- February 20 – What a Cartoon! (Cartoon Network, 16 episodes, 48 segments, last broadcast on November 28, 1997)
What a Cartoon! was an anthology series that intended to return creative power to animators and artists, by recreating the atmospheres that spawned the iconic cartoon characters of the mid-20th century. The series was the launching point for several Cartoon Network animated series including Dexter’s Laboratory, Johnny Bravo, Courage the Cowardly Dog, Cow and Chicken and I Am Weasel. The series launched with The Powerpuff Girls in ‘Meat Fuzzy Lumkins’. The series was relaunched on June 9, 2000 as The Cartoon Cartoon Show with reruns and new episodes. This version was dropped on October 16, 2003. The Cartoon Cartoon Show was revived again on September 12, 2005, and ended on June 21, 2008. Reruns of the original What a Cartoon! show aired Monday nights as part of Adult Swim’s Checkered Past block starting on Juny 29, 2024.
2005
Stoopid Monkey
- February 20 – Robot Chicken (Adult Swim, Eleven seasons, 220 episodes, 11 specials to date)
- February 21 – Avatar: The Last Airbender (Nickelodeon, Three seasons, 61 episodes)
The title Robot Chicken was inspired by a dish on the menu at a West Hollywood Chinese restaurant, Kung Pao Bistro, where creators Seth Green and Matthew Senreich had dined. Other titles considered include Junk in the Trunk, The Deep End, and Toyz in the Attic, some of which became titles of episodes during the first season. The show was pitched to networks including Comedy Central and Cartoon Network, as well as shows like MADtv and Saturday Night Live, all of which rejected it however someone at Cartoon Network passed the pitch along to Adult Swim at about the same time Seth MacFarlane suggested they pitch to the channel. The premiere episodes was dedicated to Star Wars, featuring the voices of George Lucas, Mark Hamill, Billy Dee Williams and Ahmed Best, and won the Emmy for Outstanding Animated Program (Less Than One Hour). While the last full season aired in April 2022, Green has announced a new Robot Chicken special will air sometime in 2025. He also announced they would be moving away from doing 20-episode seasons and do more specials instead. All eleven seasons stream on MAX, but Seasons 1-4 are censored.
In some regions, Avatar: The Last Airbender is known as Avatar: The Legend of Aang. Fictional locations in the series are based on real locations in Asia such as the Forbidden City, the Yellow Crane Tower, the Great Wall of China, and Inuit and Sireniki cultures. The series was nominated for two Primetime Emmy Awards in 2007, including Outstanding Animated Program, winning for Outstanding Individual Achievement in Animations for Sang-Kin Kim’s work on ‘Lake Laogai’.
2015
The Tannenbaum Company
- February 17 – Our Little Family (TLC, Two seasons, 17 episodes)
- February 17 – Repeat After Me (ABC, One season, 8 episodes)
- February 19 – The Odd Couple (CBS, Three seasons, 38 episodes)
- February 20 – Richie Rich (Netflix, Two seasons, 21 episodes)
- February 20 – The Jack and Triumph Show (Adult Swim, One season, 7 episodes)
Repeat After Me was a hidden camera series hosted by Wendi McLendon-Covey, based on a segment from The Ellen DeGeneres Show.
The Odd Couple was the seventh filmed adaptation of Neil Simon’s 1965 play following the original feature film (1968), the 1970-1975 TV series, a 1975 animated series, a 1982 series reboot with a predominantly African-American and European-American cast, The Odd Couple: Together Again (a reunion TV movie with the 1970s cast), and The Odd Couple II (a 1998 film sequel to the 1968 film). Series star Matthew Perry and original film star Jack Lemmon had worked together on the film 17 Again. A fan of the 1968 film, Perry had been pitching the series since the late 2000s, hoping to be on air by 2010. When networks passed, Perry was cast in Go On for NBC, which was cancelled after one season, allowing Perry to get back to his pet project which CBS picked up in 2013. The fourth episode of Season 3 paid tribute to Garry Marshall, who created the original TV series and guest starred in Season 2 as Oscar Madison’s father.
Though based on the comics of the same name, Richie Rich replaced all of the comic’s characters, except for Richie and Irona, with a new supporting cast. In a change from the comic’s story, Richie has a self-made fortune rather than coming from a wealthy family. Jenna Ortega was in the cast as one of Richie’s best friends, Darcy. The series was produced by AwesomenessTV, which had been acquired by DreamWorks, and was intended for YouTube (with a corresponding budget). Netflix execs visited the set one day, and a month later picked up the series.
The Jack and Triumph Show was originally given a 20-episode order, but after seven aired it was confirmed the show had been cancelled. The series starred Jack McBrayer as the former child star of a Lassie-like TV series, Triumph the Insult Comic Dog (Robert Smigel) as his former co-star, and June Squibb as June Gregory, the actress who played Jack’s mother on the series. Guest stars included Brent Spiner, Paul Rudd, Leonard Maltin, Joey Fatone, Maury Povich, Cathy Moriarty, Steve Schirripa, Paul Sorvino, Burt Young, Caroline Rhea, Vincent Pastore, Alan Thicke and Lawrence O’Donnell.